More tough times may be ahead for Boilers

EVANSTON, Ill. – It can happen so quickly in college basketball, and it appears to have happened to Purdue.

In less than 72 hours, the Boilermakers (11-11, 4-5) have lost their way in the Big Ten Conference. Indiana and Northwestern combined to score 172 points in 80 minutes, including making 23 shots from 3-point range to defeat Purdue by a combined 52 points.

Even Tuesday night’s trip to Penn State, now 0-9 in the Big Ten, seems dangerous, and after that, the schedule is brutal, including trips to Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, along with tough home games against Michigan State, Minnesota and Michigan. There’s a home game with Northwestern, but after what I saw here Saturday afternoon in Welsh-Ryan Arena, the Boilermakers could lose that one, too.

As usually is the case, it’s never as bad as it appears, and it’s never as good as it seems when a team runs off several consecutive victories.

But after what IU and Northwestern exploited in Purdue’s defensive sets, I have to wonder if this team can come close to a .500 regular-season record now.

Big AJ Hammons has scored 49 points in the past two games, and Purdue has lost each time. Badly. The guard play has been inconsistent at best, and the perimeter shooting just isn’t Big Ten caliber.

If it had postseason hopes, I’m talking NIT, Purdue had to beat Northwestern on Saturday. Instead, Hammons was late for the team bus, the Boilermakers fall behind 15-2 and another former Hoosier, Fort Wayne’s Reggie Hearn, goes off for a career-best 26 points.

Yes, Purdue is struggling. Badly. And it happened quickly, although with the exception of Illinois at the time, who has Purdue really beaten that is an upper echelon team? There aren’t any.

The bottom line is that it could get worse before it gets better, especially if the Boilermakers lose to 0-9 Penn State on Tuesday night in Happy Valley. If that happens, it won’t be a Happy Valley for the Boilermakers.

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About Jeff Washburn

I just completed my 18th season covering Purdue men's basketball for the Journal and Courier. Overall, I've been in the profession for almost 40 years, starting here as an 18-year-old college freshman. My wife, Cheryl, is a special educator, and our only child, son Jade, is an 18-year-old freshman majoring in journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. When I'm not watching or covering basketball, I enjoy traveling — Las Vegas and Florida are my favorite destinations — and I also love movies and playing Blackjack. My favorite sports are basketball, baseball, football, golf and tennis. For those into the zodiac signs, I'm a Virgo — Sept. 20, 1954.